Mar. 1, 2018

Romans 5:3...But we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience

How many know about those seemingly troubling memories growing up that you never forgot? One for me was coming home from school to find my mom washing clothes in the basement, tears streaming down her face as she hummed one of those old church songs. I asked her, what is wrong mama, she would smile through her tears and tell me...you will understand one day.

Another memory was of my grandmother (my mothers mother) sitting down on the couch after a long day, smoking a Chesterfield cigarette, drinking a Coca Cola and she too was humming an old church song. When I asked what was wrong, she too told me, you will understand one day.

Anybody reading this know what I am talking about? They would never tell me what was troubling them but now that I am a grandfather, I understand because I too have shed tears that were personal and found myself telling my children the same thing as I was told. One day you will understand.

Strange thing about this understanding of tears and trials, you don't get to appreciate it until you have some years behind you. When you have been battfield tested, when life hit you with something so hard it stopped you in your tracks. But then something triggered a old church song in your spirit and though you have tears falling from your eyes, faith reminded you about this deep seeded thing called joy welling up inside you.

In order to grasp hold of the "joy" you will have had to experience God in ways you never had to before. It centers around God's love for us, His children. God does not promise us we will have touble free days, days' with and day's without, days of difficulty whether it is your health, finances, children, job, or whatever. But He does promise us that in spite of the troubles we will face, He will give us His abiding love which produces faith, which produces peace, which produces joy.

The writer of Romans is the Apostle Paul who knew first hand about life's twists and turns and learned when the Christian's character goes through hardship, hope (faith) of receiving what God has promised grows stronger. God gave us His son Jesus to endure an unimaginable death for our sins, paying a price you and I could never pay, God raised Him from the dead and then gave us the Holy Ghost to remind us of the wonderful gift we have been given.

To the Christian who knows how God has taken care of them during their life, we say bring on the trials, the storms, the uncertainties because we know faith in Him will get us through anything life has to hit us with. We may get rock by a puch we didn't expect but like the prize fighter, we gain our second wind and we fight on. 

Many times we get so emotional over situations we face but we are reminded, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Satan reminds us of the mess we made of our lives, but the Holy Ghost reminds us Jesus paid the price of salvation for me and you. Because He paid it we can get overwhelmed by the reality of God's love for us. It will bring tears to your eyes knowing we are imperfect, yet God loves us. We have a trunk full of finful junk but He threw my sins and yours in the sea of forgetfulness.

We should face a fate we earned, we should expect nothing but heartache for the sinful way we have lived...BUT God. So the tears are not because of sadness, they are because of the joy God has given us in that while we were yet sinners, Chrst died for you and me.